Brothers Keeper
by csi101
Summary: Sara's younger brother arrives in Las Vegas to reconnect with his sister.  A little bit of Nick angst and Grissom angst thrown in for good measure.
1. Chapter 1

**It's taken a very long time but….another story is finally delivered! This one is really a Sara and Grissom story but, as is usual in my stories, there is a bit of Nick angst thrown in for good measure - and, of course, the obligatory hospital scene down the track : ). Please read and consider reviewing - I do really love getting feed back. A big thankyou as well to all the very kind people who continue to read my stories and review even though its been a very long time between drinks : D**

CHAPTER ONE

Sara Sidle smiled a contented smile. She lay curled up next to her sleeping husband, feeling nothing but happy and safe and secure. There were many times as a young teenager, when she was shuffled from foster home to foster home, when she believed she would never be capable of feeling this way. When her mother had murdered her father, her family had disintegrated overnight.

She had awful memories of police cars and social workers - all strangers - arriving at her house. She remembered being taken into her bedroom with the social worker and packing a small overnight bag with some of her belongings. She remembered the muffled deep voices of police officers wafting up the stairs. And she remembered the frantic cries of her younger, frightened brother as another social worker carried him to a waiting car. It was the last time she had been a family with her brother. They were separated that dark night and only reunited occasionally for several hours here and there depending on what families they were staying with at the time. She had grown up, essentially, as an only child. It had often been a sad and lonely ride the rest of the way to adulthood.

But now, many years later, and with her fortieth birthday looming, she had overcome most of the demons which had plagued her since that terrible night, and was in a happy place. She was enjoying being back working with her friends on grave shift at the Las Vegas criminalistics lab and she was more than happy that her husband had accepted a twelve month research and teaching grant at LVU, meaning that after twelve months of married life, they were finally living in their own marital home and seeing each other daily. He would spend the daylight hours at the university and, at times, at the crime lab making use of some of the specialised equipment which was beyond the financial means of the teaching department, and she spent the night time hours working as a CSI. But they always made sure they were together for their evening meal and for at least a cup of tea as they passed each other in the morning. It wasn't perfect, but it was a far better solution than living on separate continents.

Gil Grissom gave a sudden deep breath and his arm moved to draw her closer, even in sleep. Smiling, she cuddled in and moved her arm to rest across his chest, laying her hand gently over his heart.

Sara arrived at work the following evening feeling refreshed. She had had a relaxing day catching up on some reading while Grissom had been away at the university and had enjoyed an excellent documentary on the Galapagos Islands before getting ready for work. But the lab was quick to leach the relaxation from her system. It was a busy night. There was plenty of work to be done on an open case she had been working on for the last couple of shifts, and she had barely set foot through the front doors of the lab when Catherine Willows handed her with a slip for a death in Summerlin.

"You're with Nicky tonight." Catherine called over her shoulder as she walked off to finish delivering work assignments to the other team members.

Shrugging her bag off her shoulder, she opened up her locker, deposited her bag within it, donned her black CSI vest, restocked her investigating equipment in her kit case, double checked her reflection in the small square mirror at the end of the room, and headed off to find Nick Stokes.

She found him sitting at his desk in his office. Sara stood back and watched him from afar for several long moments. She still found it a little odd that someone other than Grissom sat in that office. And yet, she was glad it was Nick who got first dibs on it when Gil had left the team. Nick had earned the office.

Finally, she moved and stood in the doorway, knocking gently on the open door to get his attention. He looked up and smiled at her. The same friendly smile he had given her since they first met eleven years ago. The two had clicked almost instantly. She imagined the relationship she and Nick shared would have been similar to the relationship she would have had with her own brother had their lives turned out differently. And Nick, having grown up with five older sisters, treated her like a sixth.

"Hey," said Sara as she went to lean against the end of his desk. "its me and you tonight."

Nick leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hands against his face. He looked tired already.

"Yeah," he replied. "419 in Summerlin. Catherine's already caught me."

"You OK?" Sara asked as he brought his hands back down to the desk.

Nick gave a chuckle and squinted up at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he mumbled "Didn't get much sleep last night."Sara smirked at him, suddenly remembering that he had mentioned he was meeting up with an ex girlfriend for a drink last time she had spoken to him.

"Hmmm," she teased, "the hot date went well, I take it."

Nick ducked his head, a flush of embarrassment evident on his cheeks, and pushed himself up from his chair.

"Somethin' like that." he murmured, "Time to go, Sidle."

Grinning, Sara stepped into stride next to him as they headed off to their assignment.

It turned out to be a relatively routine case. A man in his mid fifties had been found deceased in the backyard of his family home by his teenage son. From his attire, he had been swimming in his in-ground pool before apparently slipping with his wet feet on the concrete and cracking his head against a solid brick wall which enclosed the area. A large pool of tacky blood had started congealing around his head, reflecting the large outdoor lights which had been switched on by the CSI's to illuminate the scene.

Sara and Nick had been processing the scene for just over an hour when Sara's cell phone rang. She glanced at the caller identification and frowned slightly as she saw _Jim Brass_ - he was working another case with Greg, she thought.

Nick was hunched down on his knees and paused from double checking his scene photographs and glanced over at Sara as she took the call. He saw the frown deepen as the conversation continued and saw the determined stance and knew what was coming. He'd be finishing the scene by himself. Not that he minded too much - he just had to think back to when he had first become a CSI level 3 and how desperately he had wanted to run a scene solo.

"Hey, Nick?" Sara called over to him, "Do you mind if I leave you finish up here? I've got to head back to the lab."

Nick stood up, shrugged and stretched his back.

"No problem." he replied. "Everythin' alright?"

It was Sara's turn to shrug, the frown still firmly in place.

"Jim's got my brother in interrogation."

Nick froze in shocked silence, shooting a quizzical look at her.

"Your brother?" he repeated, "I didn't know you had a brother."

Sara packed up her equipment without looking back over at him.

"I haven't had a brother for years." she replied quietly as she closed her case and headed out through the pool gate.

Nick looked at her leave, confusion clearly evident on his face. Shaking his head at the enigma that was Sara Sidle he turned back to his camera and continued processing the scene.

Sara arrived back at the station, chewing her bottom lip in unconscious worry. All Jim had said was that they had her brother in custody for drug possession and he had been asking to see her.

She dropped by the lab briefly to deposit the first of the evidence from the scene before heading across to the police station. Jim Brass was waiting for her outside the interview room, arms crossed but holding a manila folder in one hand and leaning with his back against the wall. He pushed away from it when he saw Sara walking towards him and started filling her in without hesitation.

"OK," he began, "so, we picked up this guy claiming to be your brother…." - he opened up the file and read the name aloud - "Alexander Paul Sidle."

He paused briefly and glanced across at Sara for confirmation. She gave a short nod of acceptance, arms firmly crossed and frown deep across her forehead.

Brass continued…

"He was picked up on the Strip trying to buy heroin. He'd already been ejected from MGM and Excalibur for intoxication. He's declined legal counsel but has requested to speak with you."

Sara walked silently past Jim and into the observation room. She looked through the one way glass window at the man sitting in the interview room. She heard Jim Brass quietly move into the room but did not take her eyes from the accused. He was agitated - hands scratching marks on his bare arms and legs jiggling up and down so fast that Sara wasn't sure if it was controlled or a severe tremor. His dark hair was greasy and untidy and he was looking around the vacant room as if suspicious that someone might be hiding. Sara was amazed at how much he physically resembles her father. His face was so similar….and yet so unfamiliar. She was utterly bewildered - she could have walked past this stranger a million times and not realised who he was.

"So, I take it this is your brother?" Brass asked quietly.

Sara nodded again but did not take her eyes away from the window.

Brass paused for several long moments before he asked, "How long has it been since you've seen him?"

Sara brought a hand up to rest on the cool glass and raised her eyebrows as she mentally calculated the years.

"I guess it's been about twenty five years." she admitted, a pang of regret that it had been so many years.

Brass was quiet a moment longer.

"What do you want to do, Sara?" he asked, voice continuing to be low, "It's your call."

Sara hesitated for a heartbeat before turning and, for the first time, looking Jim straight in the eyes.

"I'll talk to him" she replied firmly.

Brass shrugged and gestured with his arms to the door of the interview room. She opened it and entered the room with more confidence than she could have imagined. But it faded as quickly as it had come on.

All of a sudden she was fifteen years old again - shy and awkward - and having a prearranged meeting with her younger brother who she barely knew. But her foster family had pushed for them to maintain some form of contact and so, twice a year, the two separated siblings would come face to face and spend an hour or two realising how very little they had in common as they both got older. There was six years difference in their ages and their foster families differed significantly. Both had endured numerous different families but by the time Sara was fourteen, she was living full time with a family who supported her and encouraged her to funnel her anxieties and underlying anger into study. She found she had a talent for mathematics and science and began to excel at school. Her brother had not been so fortunate and had continued to be shuffled in and out of different families. His behaviour deteriorated every time Sara met him until finally the meetings stopped. He had finally found himself in juvenile detention. Sara had lost contact with him after that. He had ceased to be a part of her life.

And yet suddenly he was back.

Sara stood just inside the doorway and spent several moments looking at her brother. He looked over at her, continuing to rub distractedly at his arms.

"Sara?" he finally asked.

Sara nodded and moved to sit down opposite him in the hard, plastic chair.

"Alex." she replied calmly, "How did you find me?"

Alex's eyes were glazed and he seemed unable to maintain eye contact with her.

"You kept your name, sis." he said, finally dropping his arms to his side and focusing on her for the first time. "You weren't too hard to find. God bless the internet."

Sara sat back in her chair, arms folded and frowned back at him. "Why are you here?" she asked.

For the first time since Sara had entered the room, Alex stopped fidgeting and brought both arms up to rest on the table. His eyes dropped away from hers briefly and, when he did finally look back up at her, she was struck by the deep misery that reflected back in them.

"I really need my sister at the moment." he said quietly. A lump formed in Sara's throat so quickly it took her by surprise. "I need you to help me get my life back on track."

**As usual, I'm not really planning where this story is heading so I guess we'll just see where it ends up. Now, please, consider hitting that review button….**


	2. Chapter 2

**Another chapter up. Please continue reading and consider reviewing at the end. **

CHAPTER 2

Jim Brass stood in the observation room watching intently as Sara Sidle talked with her brother. He had never even known that she had a brother. But there he was, scruffy looking, agitated and track marks on his arms. The polar opposite to his sister.

He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but he watched as, over several long minutes, Sara's body language changed completely. At first she had been stand-offish, leaning away from Alex, arms folded, body language closed. However, the more her brother talked, the closer Sara leaned in. She dropped her arms across the table, closing the difference between them, opening up to reconnect with her long lost sibling.

Jim frowned in concerned. He had had many experiences with long term heroin addicts and knew how manipulative they could be. He had seen Alex Sidle being brought into the station - physically and verbally abusive and taunting the arresting officers - and he watched him now…playing Sara Sidle like a Stradivarius violin.

Sara walked out of the interview room after almost an hour and went straight to the locker room in almost a daze. It was nearly 4 in the morning but she picked up her cell phone and hit speed dial without considering the time. It rang for several moments before Grissom's voice answered, croaky with sleep.

"Hey," he murmured, concern clearly audible, "are you OK?"

Sara paused for a second - she didn't really know if she was OK. Her world had suddenly been turned upside down. She needed time to get her head around it. She needed her husband.

"Gil," she replied, "I'm so sorry,…can you come down here…..please….I need you."

Grissom walked into the lab seemingly only minutes after the call had ended. The worrying phone call from his wife had been over before his brain fully registered it. He was out of bed and pulling on his clothes with the phone still in his hand. Hank - Grissom and Sara's boxer dog - was stretched out on Sara's side of the bed and raised his head just enough to be able to see that his master was heading out before laying it back on the pillow and succumbing to sleep once more. Grissom pulled on a jacket and headed straight for the door, grabbing his car keys from the counter as he passed.

Fortunately, there was minimal traffic at that time through suburban Las Vegas and he made it to the lab in under 20 minutes.

It wasn't strictly legal, as he no longer worked in the unit, but he was ushered through the front desk by Judy, the receptionist - who gave him a very warm welcome - and headed back through the all too familiar corridors to the locker room. Sara was standing at the far end of the room, arms folded and head hanging down. She had been alternating between pacing the length of the room and leaning against the wall as her brain tried to process the events of the last couple of hours.

Grissom stood in the doorway and took a second to stare at his wife.

"Hey." he said simply. "What's going on? Has something happened?"

Sara looked up and gave him an anxious smile before crossing the room to him - desperate for him to just hold her. She felt his arms envelope her, a comforting wave of safety washing over her.

"Honey, I'm here" he murmured softly, "I'm here…talk to me."

Sara finally pulled away and took his right hand in hers and led him to the bench. She sat down next to him and filled him in on everything that had happened during the night. He remained silent for several moments once she had finished talking. He knew what had happened to Sara as a child and he was acutely aware of the issues she had about 'family' - how she had struggled so hard to succeed in life and had achieved everything essentially by herself. This forced independence at such a young age had given her a hardened edge - she had struggled to protect her developing ego by building a wall around it - however, Grissom knew first hand how fragile the wall was. How vulnerable she could be.

She had told him what her brother had said during their meeting. How he had endured a torturous childhood including neglect and abuse and how he had run away from his last foster home and ended up on the streets by the age of 15. He had been introduced to hard drugs around that time and had spent 2 years alternating between living on the streets and in temporary accommodation/shelters. He had tried to sort his life out over the years - had gone through rehab a number of times - but had always hit stumbling blocks which had tipped him back into the lifestyle he was so desperate to get away from.

Grissom kept a tight grip on Sara's hand while she recited her brothers story. He understood where she was heading with the conversation. He understood her desire to help her brother and wanted to be able to support her. But he also understood the potential consequences of attempting to help the man that neither of them knew.

And finally it came…

"Gil….I want to help Alex. I want to help his life back on track."

Grissom sighed and dropped his head down.

"Honey…."

"I can post his bail money. He could stay with us."

Grissom's head came up again suddenly.

"It would only be for a few weeks - just until we can find him something more permanent."

"Sara…."

"He's my brother, Gil. I can't turn my back on him. Not again."Grissom squinted at her in confusion….but saw only his wife, her eyes full of pain and silently pleading with him. So, instead of talking her out of it, he squeezed her hand and brought it up to lay a tender kiss on her knuckles.

"OK." he said, despite his better judgement. "He can stay with us until we can find him somewhere more permanent."

Grissom felt the heavy pang of regret as he filled out the bail forms for Alex. Every part of his being felt as if it was a very bad idea, and yet it was a testament to the love he had for his wife that he posted the money and signed his name to the surety. He turned and faced his long time friend, Jim Brass, who stood close by - arms folded and leaning back against the wall - watching Grissom sign the documents.

"You sure you wanna do this?" Brass asked.

Grissom shrugged. He looked tired.

"It's important to Sara." he said simply.

"Yeah, well…you keep an eye on him, Gil. He's bad news." said Brass. "He's a typical junkie - Sara's brother or not."

Grissom raised his eyebrows.

"That's very open minded of you." he replied grimly

"Look, Gil, I've been in this job a long time." said Brass - his voice kept low so only Grissom could hear, "I see these people everyday. Drug addicts who only care about where the next hit is coming from. They will do anything to anyone. They are manipulative…cunning."

Grissom stood, arms folded, listening.

"You know you're kissing your money goodbye, don't you?" Jim pushed.

Grissom shrugged a second time.

"Probably." he admitted. "But its important to Sara. I need to do this for her."

Brass held his hands up as if surrender.

"OK. OK." he said before giving Grissom a humourless smile. "Then the best of luck to you both."

The car trip home was awkwardly quiet. Grissom sat behind the steering wheel in steely silence, shoulders clearly reflecting his tension. Sara sat in the front passenger seat quietly gazing out of the window. Alex sat in the rear passenger seat, attempting to make inane conversation from time to time before lapsing back into silence when responses were not forthcoming.

When they arrived back at their apartment, things barely improved.

Sara organised her brother in the spare room, providing him with towels and toiletries before they settled themselves in the living room with cups of coffee and were able to have a proper conversation without the constraints of a police station.

Grissom sat and listened in silence as Alex spoke about his childhood and teenage years, and how he had fallen into a lifestyle dominated by drugs and petty crime. He spoke about the pain he felt and how he was desperate to make a new start. And he spoke about how his one great desire was to develop a relationship with the older sister he barely knew.

Grissom sat and watched.

He watched the stranger sitting across from him saying all the right things.

He watched the tears come as he spoke about how much he needed his sister.

He watched him reach out to physically touch her.

And he watched as his wife fell deeper under the spell.

Grissom wanted to believe the words he was hearing, but something nagged at him deep inside. Something didn't quite gel. He couldn't put his finger on it….he didn't know if it was in the mans tone, his posture, or the slight hint of arrogance he heard in the undertones of his words. But something was preventing Grissom from believing….and after all the years of working with the crime lab, if he had learnt one thing, it was he should always trust his gut.

And so he sat back in the armchair, hands clasped in front of him, his index fingers forming a steeple - the tip resting under his chin, and he watched his brother-in-law. He noticed how Alex rarely looked at him directly - how he shifted in his chair under the weight of Grissom's gaze. He couldn't help but be rather pleased with himself.

Alex downed the last of his coffee and rubbed a weary hand across his face. Sara, noticing the gesture, stood and reached for his empty mug.

"It's been a long night, Alex." she said, glancing down at her wristwatch - 8.38am. "Why don't you go and try to get some sleep."

He smiled at her and pushed himself to his feet, arching his back as he stretched.

"Thanks." he mumbled as he broke into a yawn. "I just need a couple of hours."Sara smiled at him before turning and collecting Grissom's empty mug from the coffee table and taking all three to the kitchen sink.

"Take your time." she called back over her shoulder. "I'll be here all day."

Grissom waited until Alex had left the room - continuing to watch him as he walked away - before pushing himself to his feet and joining his wife in the kitchen. He glanced at his watch knowing he had to make an appearance at the university some time during the morning despite the greater desire to stay with his wife. There was so much they needed to talk through. He opened his mouth to speak but, before he could start voicing his concerns, Sara cut him off.

"Don't say it." she said simply. Grissom paused and looked at her without answering. "He's my brother, Gil."

Grissom closed his mouth again and frowned before wrapping his arms tightly around her and pressing a tender kiss to the top of her head.

"I know, sweetheart." he said quietly. "I know."


	3. Chapter 3

**A big thankyou to those who have sent through reviews. I hope you continue to keep reading and please pass on any feedback - it really does help with the direction of the story. **

CHAPTER 3

Grissom stayed at the university research department for only a few hours. He delivered his lecture after lunch and finally succumbed to his inability to concentrate and headed home. The persistent, nagging thrum of worry gnawed away at him.

He simply couldn't bring himself to trust Alex Sidle.

Ordinarily, he was able to give people the benefit of doubt. To judge them, not on their past actions, but on their current presentation to him.

And yet something prevented him from unbiased judgement with regard to his brother-in-law.

He had to speak with Sara.

However, when he eventually got home, there was no sign of anyone else. He found a note on the dining room table solving the mystery - Sara had taken her brother to collect the rest of his belongings from the small boarding house he shared with a number of other 'street associates'. He had only been in Las Vegas for a short time and, as with a majority of boarding houses, only had a room available for a short term stay.

Grissom sighed. It looked certain that their house guest's stay had the potential to be more than the simple 'couple of weeks' that his wife had initially promised.

He headed into the kitchen and made himself a cup of herbal tea before stretching out on the sofa. He was exhausted. So much had happened in the preceding 24 hours and, with the early start, he was starting to feel the first signs of a headache. He lay back, closed his eyes and lay an arm across them and gave a deep sigh.

He was just starting to doze when he heard the sounds of happy voices and the jangle of keys in a lock. The door to the apartment opened and Sara and Alex - arms full of a combination of a battered canvas bag and fresh, new department store bags - walked in.

Grissom sighed again as the talking stopped and sat up - scrubbing away the last of the sleepiness from his eyes - before pushing himself to his feet and plastering a less than genuine smile on his face.

Alex smiled at his sister.

"Thanks again for the new clothes, Sara. I'll pay you back."Sara smiled back.

"No problem." she replied.

Grissom glanced a concerned look at Sara. Noticing, she frowned back at him quickly, hoping, unsuccessfully, that Alex wouldn't see the silent interaction.

Sensing the tension, Alex rustled the bags and turned back to his sister.

"I'll go put these away and might grab a lie down as well - all this shopping is tiring."

Grissom watched as Alex gave him a surreptitious look. It was difficult to interpret, but Grissom saw all he needed to see in it - a fleeting mixture of satisfaction and smugness.

It was all the confirmation he needed.

He was being played.

"I know you have a problem with him being here." Sara said quietly once Alex was out of earshot.

Grissom continued to stare after him but felt his wife move up close behind him and wrap her arms around his middle.

"Yes, I have a problem with him being here." Grissom replied. "I have a problem with us investing so much in someone we know nothing about. I have a problem with the fact you are being so trusting…."

"I just really need….""Sara, you need to be careful." Grissom said, cutting short her sentence and pulling away from her embrace to turn and face her, locking eyes together.

A look bordering on confusion passed across Sara's face before her frown returned.

"He's my brother, Gil…""I know he's your brother. You share some genes in common but the reality remains the same - we don't know anything about him…._you_ don't know anything about him."

Sara's eyes suddenly clouded with emotion.

"I never got the chance to know him." she said angrily. "I've got the chance now. All those years I spent growing up on my own, knowing that if my life had have gone differently I could have had one of those happy childhoods. God knows I started out with all the necessary components - Mom, Dad and baby brother - but, no. No white picket fences and fresh baked apple pie for me! The stars fall out of alignment, my Mom goes off her meds, stabs my Dad to death, and my storybook life goes straight out the window. I lose my brother, I lose everything that ever had any meaning to me! I was his big sister! I was supposed to look out for him…protect him. He's where he is now because I failed in my duties…""Sara, honey, you didn't fail….""Don't tell me it's not my fault, Gil! Don't tell me I didn't fail! I could have stopped this. I should have stopped this and I didn't!" she shouted at him, tears welling in her eyes. She was so distraught her whole body was starting to shake. "I know who's fault this is….it's mine."

Grissom felt as if he had been slapped across the face. Sara's whole demeanour had changed so abruptly it shocked him. It was as if years of pent up guilt and sadness had finally broken through the wall she had carefully built up around herself. He reached out and tried to wrap his arms around her - trying in vain to protect her from any further harm.

But, instead, she held up a hand for him to stop, locked eyes on him for one more brief second before stalking off down the corridor to the bedroom, door slamming hard as she disappeared.

Grissom stood watching after her - shell-shocked.

In the guest bedroom, Alex lay stretched out on the foldout bed. He had lay there quietly listening to the shouting match and a satisfied grin spread across his face as he heard the slam of the door.

It was all so easy.

It was early evening by the time Sara resurfaced. Grissom had left her alone to fume. He wasn't good at dealing with conflict and knew that his wife would calm down by herself provided she was given space.

There was no sign of Alex which Grissom was thankful for. He hoped it continued for the rest of the night as he really did not relish having to spend time alone with him once his wife went to work.

Sara's hostility had dissipated to general annoyance as she came into the kitchen. Grissom had already started preparing dinner and made no comment as she joined him in the kitchen and started chopping vegetables with a brutal intensity.

She cussed under her breath as the knife slipped just enough to nick her finger. She brought it to her mouth and frowned as she sucked it. Grissom looked across and pursed his lips before reaching a hand across to Sara.

"Here, let me look." he said concerned.

"It's fine." she mumbled back, taking the injured finger from her mouth to inspect the wound.

"Sara, please. Let me look." he repeated.

Frown intensifying, she thrust her finger towards him.

Grissom took her hand gently and, reaching for a piece of paper towel, wiped away the blood. It continued to ooze so Grissom wrapped it and held it tightly. With his spare hand, he reached out and raised Sara's head so her gaze met his.

"It's not deep." he said simply. "It looks worse than it is."

Sara kept his gaze and nodded acceptance.

Moving to wrap his arms around her, he held her tightly and pressed a gentle kiss to her head.

"I'm sorry." he said quietly.

"Me too." Sara replied. "I want to help him but I don't want it to come between us."

Grissom sighed but didn't break the embrace.

"Then let's see what we can do for him." he replied.

Alex appeared shortly before dinner was ready. He looked as if he had only just woken up.

Conversation was free flowing between Alex and Sara, but Grissom sat in near silence. He smiled politely at the different anecdotes but didn't attempt to enter the dialogue.

Sara respected her husbands silence and the overbearing tension which had suffocated the room earlier in the day appeared to have evaporated.

At the end of the meal, Grissom cleared away the dishes and Sara went to stack the dishwasher while Alex relaxed back in the living room sofa and flicked on the television.

Sara surveyed the scene as she reached for the bowls and smiled to herself. Perhaps it would work out after all.

**Please consider sending through a review. It really does make a big difference to my motivation levels in keeping the writing going. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the long delay in posting this chapter. As always, please consider sending through a review after reading. **

CHAPTER 4

Sara arrived at work in good spirits. She had left her husband and her brother sitting in the living room watching a Blu ray documentary on China. She suspected Grissom was enjoying it more than Alex, but still - they were socialising with each other and that had to be a good thing. She had spent the day reacquainting herself with her brother and had pulled some strings to get him into an acclaimed, private rehabilitation centre. He was due there in a week. Life was good.

"Hey."

Sara turned as she walked down the corridor and smiled in greeting at Nick, who matched her pace so they were walking side by side to the locker room.

"Hey yourself." she replied. "How did things go last night with the pool guy?"

Nick shrugged.

"Finished up pretty early in the end." he replied. "Got another call out after that to a triple fatality in Boulder. Guess that will be keeping' me busy tonight."

"Yeah, well thanks for helping me out last night. I owe you one."

Nick snorted.

"Just one?" he said, smiling at her. "I think the tally's up more than that."

Sara mock scowled at him.

"I think you need to learn to count there, Cowboy." she replied as they walked into the locker room and dropped their bags into their respective lockers.

"So," said Nick, changing the subject, "how did things go with your brother?"

Sara shrugged but didn't turn to look at him. "Well, he's staying with us until he gets his life sorted out a bit more."

She heard Nick close the door to his locker and take a seat on the bench, then the unmistakable click of the magazine from his gun being removed.

"He's staying with you? I thought from the way you spoke about him last night that you weren't close?" Nick said, attention divided between the conversation and checking the bullets in the magazine.

Sara shrugged before closing the door to her locker and turning to face him.

"Well, we've worked some things out." she replied.

Nick ducked a glance up towards her.

"Obviously." he chuckled. "24 hours ago I'd never heard you mention you had a brother and now he's living with you? Must be a fast worker."Sara scowled at him.

"It's complicated." she replied simply.

Nick went back to tending to the magazine before slipping it deftly into the chamber of his gun and pulling the barrel towards him to load the first bullet. Pushing himself back up onto his feet, he fastened the weapon into his side holster and grabbed his CSI vest from the bench, slipping into it as he spoke.

"And Gris is fine with all this?" he asked.

Sara glanced at him as she pulled on her own vest.

"Yes. He's fine with it."

Nick smiled at her and raised his eyebrows playfully at her.

"Well, OK then. I'll mind my own business."Returning his smile she replied "I'd appreciate that." before turning and leading them both out to the break room.

Grissom sat in an uneasy silence with Alex, watching the documentary while playing the events of the last 24 hours through his mind. He couldn't believe how dramatically his life had changed in such a short space of time.

"What do you resent most about me?"

The question caught Grissom by surprise.

"Excuse me?" he said.

"What do you resent most about me?" Alex asked a second time. "I mean, come on. I know you hate having me here. I know it's just eating you up inside. So, what is it that pisses you off the most?"Grissom turned his head slowly to look at him. Alex was sitting back in the recliner, smugness written all over his face, watching his brother-in-law as if wanting to see him squirm.

Grissom raised an eyebrow at him.

"Is it my relationship with Sara?" Alex continued, "Or that I'm in your house? Or maybe a combination of the two? Maybe it's because your wife is so willing to put herself out so much for someone like me after only an hour and she didn't even talk to you about it. That must be very emasculating."

Grissoms eye twitched with a mixture of emotions but he didn't bite. Instead, he turned his head back to the television.

"That's it, isn't it." Alex pushed on - determined to push his brother-in-laws buttons. "You have no authority in your own house! Your little wife runs the show. She wants me here and you can't do anything about it. You just have to do what you're told!"

Grissom pushed himself up from the sofa and turned to face Alex.

"My wife a I are equal partners in our marriage. It's born out of mutual love and respect and I pity you if you can't understand that. I'm going to bed." he said before turning and heading out of the living room and heading for his bedroom.

"Oh, come on." Alex called after him. "I'm only messing with you. Where are you going? What? Did I hurt you're poor, delicate feelings?"

Grissom could here his taunts continue as he closed his bedroom door and sat heavily on the edge of the bed. He brought his hands up and rubbed his face, trying to wipe away the anger he was feeling. He dropped his hands back down across his knees and watched the slight tremor of emotion course through them. He rarely lost control - rarely let things affect him - but something about the man sitting out in his living room affected him deeply.

It was becoming clear.

Alex Sidle was his kryptonite.

Sara and Nick spent the night shift working together.

They had a mountain of evidence to process from the previous night and the two colleagues sat opposite each other in the lay-out room - working quietly and independently on their own portion of the case.

Sara had found it difficult to continue to focus. Her mind kept wandering back to her brothers situation and how she was going to help him. Several times she found herself drifting back from a daydream . Occasionally she would look over to see Nick giving her a quiet, amused glance before returning his attention to the evidence, other times she would just realise she had spaced out for a second or two and that her colleague hadn't noticed.

She glanced over at him and smiled.

She enjoyed being back with her team and particularly enjoyed being back working with Nick - her surrogate brother. As their friendship had grown over the years, she often thought about her biological brother and wondered if their relationship would have been similar. The teasing. The fun. The occasional fights. The mutual respect.

"Hey. You sure you're OK, Sar?" Nick asked quietly.

She snapped out of her reverie and looked dumbly over at him.

"Huh?" she replied before her brain kicked in. "Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm fine."

Nick watched her a moment longer.

"You've been staring off in space for the last 10 minutes. Anything you want to talk about?" he continued. "I'm a good listener."

Sara dropped her head down momentarily.

She had spent her whole adult life building up an impenetrable wall around her past - determined not to let it contaminate her future. She had hidden the details of her childhood from all of her friends and colleagues. She wasn't really sure if she was ready to confide in Nick. They had been friends for years - it wasn't as if she didn't trust him to keep her secret nor was it that she didn't value his advice - but she really didn't want him to think any less of her. She realised how stupid it sounded as soon as the thought entered her head.

It was Nick.

He would tell it like it was, but she knew he would support her even if he didn't agree with her. He was loyal. He was dependable. And, she suddenly realised, he was also an expert on the one subject she was totally clueless on - sibling relationships.

He was the youngest of seven children. He had a whole lot of experience with dealing with brothers and sisters.

If there was one person who could give her advice on the subject it was Nick Stokes.

She smiled as the realisation sunk in and she lifted her head to look into his concerned eyes.

"Can I talk to you in confidence?" she asked quietly.

Nick frowned.

"Of course." he replied before pushing himself up from his seat and moving to close the door to give them some more privacy. "What's up?"

Sara gave a humourless chuckle.

"I don't know how to be a sister?" she said simply. "I don't know how to help."

Nick shrugged, confused.

"Well," he replied, "what does he need help with?"

Sara dropped her hands to the counter.

"Everything." she said simply before she leaned back in her chair and met Nick's eyes earnestly. And, finally, she told her friend the background to her life.


	5. Chapter 5

**Another chapter. Not too many more chapters with this story. Please review after reading. **

CHAPTER 5

Grissom lay back on his bed, arms folded across his eyes. Stress and anxiety gnawed at his gut and made him feel queasy. His head still ached and he knew it was all as a result of one person.

He heard the sound of the television wafting in from the living room and could still hear Alex Sidle moving about. He wondered what he was up to.

Finally, curiosity got the better of him.

Pushing himself up from the bed, he made his way out to the kitchen under the guise of making himself a cup of tea.

Alex appeared from the upstairs library.

"I thought you had gone to bed." he said simply.

A concerned frown flittered briefly across Grissom's face.

"Are you looking for something to read?" he asked with fake innocence. "We've got Greek classics, anthropology, Shakespeare….""No, I'm good. Just looking around my new abode." replied Alex nonchalantly. His arrogance made Grissom's skin crawl. He watched as he continued to prowl around the apartment. He seemed unable to settle. There was an edginess that hadn't been apparent earlier.

"Can I make you a cup of tea?" asked Grissom, making an attempt to be polite.

Alex rolled his eyes and continued pacing before running his hands through his hair and grabbing the spare set of keys Sara had left for him on the living room coffee table.

"I'm going to head out for a while." he said as he headed for the door.

Grissom's head snapped up from pouring the boiling water into the cup.

"You're going out?" he repeated dumbly, "Where are you going?"

Alex cast him a look of disdain.

"Out." he replied bluntly, heading for the door.

Grissom turned to face him - face stony serious.

"Alex, we posted bail for you. You've been remanded to our custody. You can't just 'go out' without telling us where you're going." he said calmly.

Alex swung around and glared at him - his eyes radiating with intensity.

"I don't have to tell you anything! You're not my father! You're nothing to me!" The sudden venom in his words stunned Grissom and he watched in wordless astonishment as Alex stormed out of the apartment.

Taking a deep breath and sighing, Grissom leaned on his arms against the kitchen counter.

As glad as he was to see him leave, he felt a pang of regret and uneasiness at the thought of Alex out on the streets. He was almost certain that he would end up on the streets looking to score another hit of drugs.

He was conflicted. He knew he should call Jim Brass and report that Alex had left - but he also knew that, technically, he hadn't jumped bail. He could very possibly waltz back into the apartment as if nothing had happened. There was nothing to prove that he had gone in search of drugs…it was the likely, but a hunch was not enough to get him thrown back in jail….unfortunately.

He thought also about calling Sara. But, again, decided against it.

There was nothing that could be done until he knew if Alex was gone for good or if he would return. There was no point in worrying Sara if he reappeared before she got home.

So Grissom took his cup of tea and sat down on the sofa to wait.

Nick sat back, shocked by what he had heard. He had known that Sara hadn't had a stable upbringing and had known that she had spent time in foster care, but the circumstances behind it had never been discussed before and he had never felt it was his place to ask.

He sat back, speechless.

Sara watched him digest the information. It never ceased to surprise her the effect on others that her story had. She often forgot that most people didn't experience such struggles on their journey to adulthood.

"So," said Nick eventually, "what are you going to do with him?"

Sara shrugged.

"He's my brother." She seemed to have repeated the same response so many times.

This time it was Nick's turn to shrug.

"So?" he said challenging her to continue. "Sara, just because he's your brother doesn't mean he gets a free pass to re-enter your life and upend it. If he's serious at wanting to sort his life out then that's great - but he has to do it on your terms and not on his."

Sara dropped her gaze down to her hands which were nervously rubbing the sheet of paper in front of her.

"But, he's asking me for help." she replied quietly.

Nick leaned forward.

"How far are you willing to go for him, Sar?" he asked.

Sara looked back up but avoided Nick's eyes.

"I have to do everything I can for him, Nick." she said, emotion making her voice crack. "I have to look after him this time."

Nick frowned at the term _'this time'._

"Sara," he said quietly, "you were a kid. You couldn't look after him and you shouldn't have been expected to. That's what adults were supposed to do.""But he's my brother." Sara said again, her voice almost pleading with him to understand her pain. "You have a brother - you would do anything for him wouldn't you."Nick shrugged again.

"Within reason." he said, "But Sara, that's not just because he's my brother. It's because of the relationship we've shared our whole lives. We've had our ups and downs as we were growing up, we have a shared past and shared experiences that have formed who we are today and how we trust and respect each other. That's something that has developed because of our circumstances and not just because of our shared genes."Sara's eyes welled up as the words hit home - she had her brother back but could never get their childhoods back.

Nick gave her a small, sympathetic smile and reached out with his hand to gently touch her forearm.

"I'm sorry, Sar, I really am."

Emotions clouding her response, she tried to offer him a smile back but failed. Reaching with her other hand, she laid it briefly over his before pushing up from her chair and walking out through the door and down the corridor to the ladies bathroom. Nick watched her go, lips pursed in worry and regret, and knew there was nothing he could do to help her.

Sara splashed some cold water on her face to hold back the tears that threatened to push through tightly closed eyelids.

Part of her felt humiliated that she had let Nick see the vulnerable side to her and that she had confided such an intimate secret with him.

Part of her felt angry - angry because she hadn't heard what she had desperately hoped to, and angry because the emotions that she had so carefully locked away had suddenly reappeared.

And part of her felt a curious mixture of relief that her past was no longer such an oppressive secret and confusion at what she needed to do from that point on.

Deep down she knew that Nick was right - she had to be the one to set the limits. As much as she hated to admit it, she really didn't know her brother at all. Like all of the other members of her team, she had worked extensively with people whose lives had been destroyed by drug use and knew how manipulative a drug addled mind could become in its desire to feed its habit.

She lifted her head up and opened her eyes - looking at her reflection in the mirror.

Her face was lined with stress and tiredness.

She looked a moment longer before taking a couple of pieces of paper towel and dabbing the remaining water from her face. Standing straight, she took a deep, steadying breath and straightened her shirt in the mirror.

She had made up her mind.

She knew what she was going to have to do.

**Thanks for reading, now please press the review button. It doesn't have to be an essay - just a few words will do. Please. Just so I know if it's worth continuing. Please. **


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Grissom woke with a groan. The muscles in his back went into spasm as he moved - a result of having spent several hours slouched sideways in the living room chair as he slept.

He blinked owlishly as he got his bearings.

The room was quiet and there was no sign that Alex had arrived back.

Pushing himself painfully to his feet, he stretched his back and winced as the muscles bit back, then made his way down the corridor to the guest bedroom.

Sure enough, it was empty.

Sighing, he made his way back to his own room and lowered himself down onto the bed and closed his eyes. He would just wait a few minutes for his back to settle then would get up and call Sara. He didn't mean to doze off again but he had had precious little sleep the night before and a hectic day at the university and his body simply refused to co-operate any longer.

The bed creaked slightly and he felt the mattress beside him sink a little as someone lay down next to him.

He jerked upright.

"Hey, it's just me. Sorry I woke you."

He blinked several times to clear the remaining sleep from his eyes. His heart rate slowed as he realised it had been his wife and not a psychopathic brother-in-law that had woken him.

"Hey." he replied, his voice hoarse from sleep. "You home already? How were things at work?"Sara shrugged before cuddling in close.

"It was OK." she replied, stifling a yawn. "I finished up early. How did you two get along?"Grissom rolled his eyes without Sara seeing.

"Alex left around 10:30 last night." he replied.

Sara sat upright, suddenly awake. She stared at him in disbelief.

"What? He left?" she repeated, "Where did he go?"Grissom shrugged and turned his head towards his wife.

"I don't know." he replied. "He just said he was leaving and….he left."Sara continued to stare at him, a mixture of anger and fear gnawing at her.

"And you just let him go?" she asked accusingly.

Grissom's eyebrows creased in a brief frown.

"Well, he wasn't very receptive to anything I had to say." he said simply. "I told him we were responsible for him while he was out on bail and asked him not to go….and he went anyway."Sara scowled at him a second longer before pushing up from the bed with an angered intensity and stalking out into the corridor and down to the guest bedroom.

She returned a couple of minutes later obviously pissed.

"Bed still empty?" asked Grissom quietly.

Sara simply nodded her head and flopped down on the bed again.

Grissom watched her for a brief moment before rolling over and drawing an arm across her.

"I'm sorry." he murmured softly.

He felt her body tense up as she rolled her back to him, but her hand came up to cover his and keep it in place over her abdomen.

Grissom sighed and tightened his grip. He loved his wife more than anyone in the world and knew from past experience that her psyche was damaged from her childhood experiences. He also knew that sometimes the only thing he could do to ease her inner pain was just to hold her tight and not say anything.

It was almost an hour later that Grissom heard the front door open and movement in the living room.

He still lay holding his wife, who had finally succumbed to exhaustion and fallen into a deep sleep. Pulling his arm gently away from her, he rolled and pushed himself up from the bed, stretching his back before reaching down and covering Sara with the angora blanket that sat at the foot of the bed.

Heading out of the bedroom he found Alex, wide eyed and anxious - clearly unable to keep still - pacing through the living room.

"You came back." Grissom said unnecessarily.

Alex swung around and stared at him, his eyes positively gleaming with a wild intensity. Grissom frowned a little in concern. In all the years he had worked with victims of drug dependence, it was the unpredictability of their actions that he found the most unnerving.

"Are you feeling OK?" Grissom asked, frown deepening as Alex continued to prowl the room like a caged lion. "Are you high?"

Alex snorted then laughed - a cold, humourless laugh.

"What do you care." he spat out. "It's none of you're business what I've been doing."

Grissom folded his arms and held firm despite an irrational urge to throw his brother-in-law out of his home.

"My name is on your bail form, Alex." he replied calmly. "That makes it my business."

Alex advanced towards him forcing Grissom to take a step backwards - albeit cursing silently to himself at giving him any ground at all. As if sensing he had the advantage, Alex smirked and continued to progress until he was right in front of him. He tried not to flinch as Alex leant right into his face.

"What's the matter, bro? I scare you?"Grissom didn't reply but stood his ground and maintained eye contact.

Alex continued his verbal assault.

"You think you're so much better than I am, don't you! You think you have it all!" Alex's voice rose in volume the more he went on. "Well, you got nothing, brother! You're nothing more than a useless, old piece of…"

"ALEX!"

Sara's shout startled Grissom more than Alex's rant and he jumped instinctively.

Alex's demeanour changed instantly as Sara ducked past her husband and pushed herself between the two men. He backed off straightaway looking suddenly uncomfortable - a world away from the thuggish bully of merely seconds before. It occurred to Grissom that he hadn't realised she was home - he must have assumed that she would still be at work and he smiled to himself - at last his wife had seen her brother for what he was.

"I trusted you." she said, eyes boring into Alex's "I put everything on the line to help you and you blew it."

Alex seemed to suddenly sober up.

"Sara. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I lost control tonight. I need help. Please."

"Save it, Alex." she replied calmly, voice devoid of any emotion that would certainly have been festering underneath. "Gil and I have put a lot on the line for you. If we can't trust you to stay here and keep off the drugs for one week - ONE WEEK, ALEX! - then maybe I should just send you back to jail right now."

"Sara, please…" Alex's voice had a pleading quality - almost that of a small boy. "The drugs have a hold, Sara. They control me. It's so hard."

"I know it's hard, but you couldn't go 24 hours without a hit?" Sara challenged. "Alex, you're behaviour towards Gil has been nothing short of obnoxious. If you don't want to be here with us then go. Leave. But remember this…you came to me for help. You came to me to get off the drugs which are systematically ruining your life. You asked me to help you and I am. You walk out that door now and you not just let me down but you let yourself down too. Your choice."

She finished talking and leant back defiantly, folding her arms firmly across her chest.

Alex stared at her. His expression was one of a remorseful child. Suddenly, a flash of cunning passed over it - the hint of a malicious smile tweaked at the edges of his mouth - before he righted himself and turned his expression back.

Sara frowned slightly. She thought that she had seen it, but began to doubt herself. Then, just as she was about to back down and accept him remorsefulness, she saw it again - the glimmer of malevolence passed back across his features.

"Get out." she said cooly.

Alex recoiled as if her had been slapped.

"Sara."

"Go." she replied. "You have been playing me ever since you arrived. Now leave."Alex paused a moment longer, a humourless and hostile smile creeping across his face, then turned and stalked to the doorway - sideswiping a framed wedding photo of Gil and Sara into a wall as he passed - and left. The door slammed shut as he went and Sara felt herself finally relax.

She heard a deep breath being released next to her and turned to look at her husband.

"Are you OK?" Grissom asked quietly.

Sara nodded slightly and went into his waiting arms.

"I'm sorry." she murmured against his chest and felt his gentle hand come up to rest against the back of her head.

"There's nothing to be sorry for." he replied. "You were looking out for your brother."Sara closed her eyes and relaxed into his embrace. She was done with her biological family. She would create her own family instead with the man she loved.

And they would be a happy.

**Please consider hitting that review button now and dropping me a line to let me know what you think of this chapter. Thanks in advance : )**


	7. Chapter 7

**Apologies for the very late posting of this new chapter. It's taken me a while to get some free time to write out another chapter….and I've kind of gotten into CSI: Miami now…well, actually, more like developed an addiction to Tim Speedle. So apologies and I hope you enjoy reading the new chapter. Please consider reviewing at the end. **

CHAPTER 7

Three days passed by.

Grissom was relieved that Alex had not reappeared and that the uneasiness he had subconsciously carried in his gut for the previous few days had finally dissipated. It had been replaced to a certain degree, however, with niggling concern about his wife.

Sara appeared, outwardly at least, to have put her brother out of her mind. She didn't speak about him, nor did she show any inkling that she was anything but completely resolved in her decision to cut him out of her life.

In private, however, she found that her thoughts flittered back to her brother more frequently than she had liked. There were pangs of guilt, kicks of anxiety and, most painful of all, the cold lump of loneliness that had taken up residence deep within her chest once more. But, she continued to work through it with a silent resoluteness that her husband found both admirable and worrying.

He respected her silence and her need for space. He had learnt over many years dealing with Sara, that the most effective way he could support her was to flit around the edges - be nearby without suffocating her with attention.

With that in mind, he had arranged with Conrad Ecklie and Catherine Willows to make use of the crime labs facilities for his research project over the period of a week after Alex left - just to be nearby in case Sara had needed him.

He drove Sara to work and passed an enjoyable half an hour chatting with Catherine, Nick and Greg in the break room before their shift commenced. He talked and laughed freely and, once again, realised how much he missed the camaraderie of long term team work. And yet he remembered also how the job he had loved so much had become so terribly draining. Going to work night after night had become a chore. He would develop anxiety before the start of each shift, starting from the night Warrick Brown had been killed and ending the instant he walked out of the lab for the final time as a full-time employee. He watched his ex-colleagues head out of the room and breathed a sigh of relief that he only had the luxury of visitation rights these days instead of employment. He had the liberty of a quiet chuckle and being able to quickly change the subject whenever the subject of him returning to the team arose.

He downed the last of his coffee, pushed himself up from his chair and headed out to the corridor. He was looking forward to spending a few hours by himself having 'fun' with the mega expensive pieces of equipment that belonged to the Las Vegas Crime Lab. He was looking forward to using them for his own research interests instead of having to solve the mystery of another poor souls tragic death.

He spotted Sara in the AV room working through surveillance footage and gave a smile as she turned and spotted him.

Smiling back, she gave him a small wave before turning her attention back to the footage of Mandalay Bay's wave pool. She had several hours of security footage to trawl through as she attempted to pinpoint the final movements of her murder victim. It was a tedious job and she would much rather be out in the field or analysing physical evidence, but she knew that the video evidence would be crucial in helping her unlock the mystery of her victim's death and would, hopefully, lead to an arrest and conviction.

She sat, almost transfixed by the images, for 2 hours. Her head was beginning to hurt from a combination of the position she was sitting in and the hours of staring at the computer monitor. She pushed herself to her feet and stretched out her back before heading out of the small AV room and poking her head into the layout room. She paused and watched her husband poring over books, journals and photographs. He would stop reading periodically to make notations in a note book before returning to his reading.

He paused mid-scrawl and turned his head to the door, suddenly aware of being watched.

The corners of Sara's mouth curled into a smile as they locked eyes.

"Hey." she said simply.

Grissom raised his eyebrows playfully at her.

"Hey yourself." he replied, turning his attention back to the desk as he finished writing the sentence he was working on. He jotted down the last couple of words and capped his pen before tossing it into the centre of his notebook and flicking the cover closed.

Turning back to Sara, he smiled back at her.

"Are you ready for a break?" he asked cheerfully.

Sara nodded and held out a hand towards him.

Pushing himself up from his seat, Grissom strode forward and took her hand in his as they headed down to the break room together.

"How's your night shaping up?" he asked as he poured a cup of coffee and handed it to his wife.

She shrugged as she took it and headed to take a seat on the sofa.

"Slow." she replied. "Video surveillance does not an exciting evening make."

Grissom smiled and took a seat next to her. Sara stifled a yawn and dropped her head backwards onto the edge of the sofa closing her eyes.

"God, I'm so tired…." she groaned.

Grissom glanced at her and shrugged.

"Well, you've had a lot to deal with lately." he replied.

Sara nodded but didn't open her eyes.

Grissom reached out and took her coffee cup from her hand and placed it on the coffee table instead before bringing his hand up and drawing her head down onto his shoulder and wrapping his arm around her, stroking her hair until he felt her start to relax.

Sara rested for only a moment before she heard it….

"Sara Sidle to reception. Sara Sidle to reception."

Sighing deeply, she hesitated for a second and felt Grissom take a deep breath in sympathy, before she sat back upright.

"Come on, honey." he said quietly as he pushed himself to his feet and held out a hand towards her. Taking it, she allowed herself to be dragged to her feet and guided through the break room door.

They headed in tired silence out to the reception desk at the entrance to the department.

"Judy, you paged?" Sara asked the receptionist, a second before she caught sight of her husbands line of sight and recognised the tight line of concern his lips made.

Closing her eyes briefly, she heard Judy's buoyant voice tell her she had a visitor before she reopened them and followed her husbands gaze. Seated in one of the hard plastic chairs in the waiting area was the dishevelled figure of her brother - shirt untucked, jeans caked in dirt below the knees, and eyes just as wild as they had been during their last encounter.

"Alex…." she murmured under her breath.

"Sara, I need your help."

Sara sighed deeply and felt Grissom tense up beside her.

"We've been down this road before, Alex." she heard him say. "Why should we think it would be any different now."

Alex swung his gaze from his sister to Grissom. Sara was shocked at the pure hatred that radiated from his eyes - it only lasted a second before he gained control once more and turned his expression back into a vulnerable little boy, But this time Sara had his measure. She reached beside her and placed a steadying hand against her husband's arm.

"Leave, Alex." she said firmly - although Grissom could feel the slight tremor of emotion pulsing through her fingers as they clung onto him. Alex turned his gaze back to his sister. "If you really want help then I will give you the address for a shelter and will put you in touch with a drug and alcohol specialist, but you are not welcome in our house until you have proven that you have sorted your life out."

Alex's eyes narrowed and he took a step closer them.

"You bitch." he spat out, his voice rising in intensity as he continued. "You stupid, hypocritical bitch!"

"Hey!" Nick's voice sounded from several feet behind them. Grissom glanced back and waved him over with one hand while he held Sara back with the other.

"Nick, escort this man out please." he called out to the younger man. "Judy, call security please."

"Alex!" Sara shouted at her brother, but his hostility was still firmly directed at Grissom.

"Shut your mouth!" Alex screamed at him. "I'm gonna kill you, you son of a bitch! You smug, son of a bitch! You think you're so much better than everyone else? You're nothing. You deserve to die you smug, bastard and I'm gonna be the one to take you out!"

"Alex! Stop it!" Sara was visibly upset now. "Stop it! Please!"

But Alex was beyond reason. He was red in the face and sweating hard.

Grissom pulled his wife into his arms and held her as the tremors overtook her entire body. She buried her head against his shoulder and he felt her take a deep, steadying breath but he didn't drop his gaze from where his brother-in-law stood.

"C'mon, man." he heard Nick say - his Texan drawl suddenly much thicker than normal, "Do the right thing, man, and walk away."

What happened next was almost a blur. Grissom saw an erratic jerk rip through Alex's body - although it was mostly obscured by Nick. Then he saw Nick almost convulse backwards. He heard him call out in distress and saw a flash of deep red as he hit the ground hard and curled in on himself. Then he saw Alex take off - running like a mad man - out through the front doors of the department.

It all happened as if in slow motion.

Placing his hands on either side of Sara's shoulders, Grissom moved her abruptly out of the way and hurried to Nick's side.

"Judy!" he called urgently, "Get paramedics here, now!"

Sara spun around, oblivious to what had happened, and stood in shocked disbelief watching her husband roll Nick onto his back. The Texan was clinging onto his left flank, sweat forming across his forehead and his eyes glistening with pain filled intensity. He was moaning softly and reached a hand out to grab hold of Grissom's sleeve.

Grissom touched his hand briefly in sympathy before moving it to gently ease up his shirt and expose a narrow stab wound which was steadily pouring blood.

"It's OK, pal." he murmured quietly as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a clean hankerchief. Placing it over the wound he pressed down hard, trying to stem the flow of blood. Nick groaned in pain and his head dropped backwards onto the floor, eyes shut tight.

"Stay with me, pal." Grissom continued, reaching out his free hand to gently tap against the side of Nick's face until he opened his eyes again, "Nick? Stay with me…"

Sara blinked back shocked tears as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself. She watched as if in a dream as thick, crimson blood soaked through the hankerchief and seeped between Grissom's fingers. Deep, red blood.

"_Sara….."_

"Sara!"

Suddenly everything sped back up to real time. The urgent calling of her name finally fell into place with the movement of her husband's lips. It jolted her back into action.

"I need to stop this bleeding! Find me something to use as a pressure dressing." Grissom was saying, voice calm but urgent.

Brain finally kicking back in, Sara spun around and ran down the corridor to the locker room. At the back of the room was a door leading through to the bathroom and showers and against the wall was a large metal shelving unit stacked with clean and folded towels. Grabbing an armful of towels, she raced back down the corridor and thrust one into Grissom's outstretched and bloodied hand.

Hugging the rest to her chest, she watched as he folded the towel even smaller and pressed it hard over the top of the now soaked through hankerchief. Nick seemed to be barely conscious by this point and Sara felt the ever present sting of tears in her eyes.

Suddenly, she heard it. Distant, but getting closer every second.

Sirens.

Help was on its way.

**OK, nearly there now. Please take a minute and hit the review button. I would really appreciate it. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Another chapter up….(finally!). Thankyou to all the people who have submitted reviews. I have had some difficulty in accessing my account and haven't been able to reply to all of them individually - but they are all much appreciated….so, if I haven't replied to your review, please take this as a personal THANKYOU : )**

Sara stood and watched, horrified, as the paramedics worked on Nick. Grissom pushed himself up from where he crouched on the floor, and went to stand by her side - his hands covered in blood. Distracted, she handed him a towel, which he accepted.

In the minutes it had taken for the ambulance to arrive, Jim Brass had appeared and had already started organising officers to look for Alex. He was talking on his cell phone while he kept on eye on what was happening in front of him

Nick's eyes were still open but Sara doubted he was truly aware of anything happening around him.

"BP 70 on 40. Pulse 160." one of the paramedics said calmly as they placed an oxygen mask over Nick's nose and mouth.

"IV in." the other replied as she leaned over his chest with a stethoscope. "Breath sounds clear on both sides."

Nick started to lose the fight to stay conscious.

"Mr. Stokes?" called one of the medics as he rubbed his knuckles against Nick's breastbone. "Nick? You need to open your eyes and stay with me, OK?"

A frown flickered over Nick's face and he swiped hopelessly at the oxygen mask as his eyes flicked slightly apart. He groaned in pain under his breath and his head lolled to one side.

"It's OK." the medic murmured quietly as Nick was transferred onto the waiting stretcher. "You're OK. We'll have you in hospital before you know it."

Nick started to get more restless as the paramedic fastened the safety restraints across his chest and legs.

"OK?" she asked as she looked towards her partner.

The second paramedic glanced up at her and nodded back.

"OK." he replied. "Let's move. On three. One….two….three."

At the signal, the stretched was lifted upwards until there was a clicking sound and it was at a suitable height to be wheeled out to the waiting ambulance.

"We're taking him to Desert Palms." the paramedic called back to Grissom as he slung the emergency treatment bag over one shoulder and helped his partner manoeuvre the stretcher.

"OK." Grissom replied. "I'll follow you there."

The paramedics wheeled Nick out of sight and Grissom let out a deep sigh, turning to glance at his shell shocked wife before he finished wiping his hands on the towel and tossed it onto the floor. He suddenly became aware that they were no longer alone. Turning, he noticed how several more people had joined them, all standing well back and watching the events unfold.

He didn't know what to say. He felt just as shocked as his wife looked.

"Gris."

Looking up he saw Greg walking towards him, pulling gloves on as he spoke.

"We're going to need you to change before you go to the hospital. You're clothes are evidence now."

Grissom raised his eyebrows as the realisation set in. How quickly things change, he thought. There was a time in the not too distant past when that would have been forefront in his mind, now, he realised, he hadn't even thought about it.

Nodding, he looked once more at his wife.

She still looked shell shocked - staring at the smeared blood pool as if transfixed by its deep crimson colour.

"What the hell happened?"

Catherine's voice projected down the corridor and made Grissom swing around. She looked tense - face clearly expressing her concern - as she strode purposely towards the group of onlookers.

"Hodges said Nick's been stabbed?" she asked Grissom incredulously.

Grissom nodded, suddenly feeling as exhausted as his wife looked.

"It's a long story." he replied. "Nick's lost a lot of blood and is en-route to Desert Palms. I'll get changed and go to the hospital."

Catherine brushed a hand forcefully through her hair and stood, hands on hips, demeanour all business.

"OK." she replied. "I'll find Ecklie and see if he can cover for me for a few hours. I'll drive. You go get changed."

Grissom glanced once more at Sara.

"Will you be OK?" he asked her quietly.

Sara gave the briefest hint of a nod before turning and stalking back down the corridor.

Catherine glanced at her as she walked past and frowned before turning her attention to Greg.

"Are you OK to process the scene here by yourself?" she asked matter-of-factly.

Greg looked at her, shrugged his shoulders and nodded.

"Yeah, sure." he replied. "I'll go get my kit."

The last couple of bystanders finally filtered away as Greg disappeared down the corridor. Catherine and Grissom stood together for several moments longer - both gazing for a brief moment at the tacky pool of their colleagues blood.

Grissom's hand came up to scrub at his face - stopping just short as he remembered it was caked with Nick's blood.

Catherine returned her attention to him.

"Go get changed." she said simply. "Bag up your clothes for processing and get a scrubs top from the doc. I'll meet you in the break room in 20 minutes."

He gave a wan smile at the tone in her voice. Certain and in control. He had never had any reservations about leaving the team from a management point of view. He knew they were in good hands. Catherine had been his right hand man - or woman - for all the years he had been in charge of the unit's night shift and he had no doubt that she would manage the leadership position.

He watched with a mixture of pride and amusement as he was proven right.

Catherine and Grissom arrived at Desert Palms hospital 45 minutes later to the news that Nick had been taken into surgery almost 20 minutes earlier.

They were directed to the intensive care waiting room and spent almost 2 and a half hours drinking coffee and chatting about life in general - anything to keep their minds off the worry they felt about Nick.

Catherine filled Grissom in on how Ray Langston had developed as a CSI, and how Riley Adams had left abruptly - albeit with a parting shot at Catherine's leadership.

Grissom sat and listened in respectful silence. Truth be told, he had already heard about the drama's surrounding Riley's departure from Sara. And it hadn't come as a complete surprise to him. He had had certain reservations about Riley's ability to mesh in with the team. She had been almost over-confidant - exuding a cockiness that grated the eternally humble Gil Grissom's patience. She had strode into a department suffocating in the grief of losing their much loved colleague, Warrick Brown, and had seemed oblivious to the need for compassion and space. But he had not had any choice. They were short handed and needed someone with experience to fill the void on short notice. And it had been taken mostly out of his hands. Conrad Ecklie had conducted the interview and hired her.

So, her abrupt departure had not come as a shock to him at all.

When Catherine finished debriefing, Grissom simply rested his hand on her arm and gave her a smile - a smile of understanding and of wisdom.

"Don't give it another thought, Catherine." he said quietly. "It was a tantrum by a spoilt little girl. You are a wonderful leader."Catherine's eyes met his and he could see the emotion in them. She had overcome a lot of prejudice in her career and had worked twice as hard as most men to get to the position of supervisor and Grissom knew how the criticism would have wounded her.

"I could never have done my job without you." he finished.

Catherine reached out her hand to cover his and gave it a squeeze.

"Thankyou." she said in almost a whisper.

Grissom gave her a sincere smile in response.

Catherine had missed her friend more than she could say. The two of them had worked highly effectively as a team - as partners. She had remembered one case when they had been mistaken for a married couple. It had made her smile. Their relationship could never be more than platonic - she was quite sure they would kill each other within a week if they had to live together - however, working together they were in tune with each other. She knew she could count on him completely.

Well, she could count on him for almost anything.

He was hopeless with administration work.

"Excuse me. Are you here for Nicholas Stokes?"

The voice cut through Catherine's reverie and she looked up to see a middle aged nurse dressed in scrubs standing in the doorway. Catherine and Grissom both rose to their feet.

"Yes." they replied in unison.

"We're his colleagues from the crime lab." Catherine said.

The nurse smiled reassuringly and walked further into the waiting room.

"He's doing fine." the nurse said, raising both her hands up to quell their obvious anxiety. "He's out of surgery and we'll be transferring him up here to intensive care within the next 10 minutes. My name is Clare and I'll be looking after him today. Mr Mark Hargraves was operating and will be up later to talk with you. Have his family been notified?"Catherine and Grissom exchanged a glance. They assumed Ecklie would have taken care of that by now. It was yet another part of the job that Grissom did not miss.

"His parents will have been called." Catherine replied. "They are in Texas but will, no doubt, be on their way."

"OK. I'll be back once he's been settled in and you'll be able to have a brief visit - but I'll warn you now, he'll be out for a while yet. He's had major surgery so don't expect too much in the way of communication." Clare finished.

"Thank you." replied Grissom as Clare turned and left.

He turned and shared another glance with Catherine then took his seat again.

It was almost 40 minutes later that the surgeon finally arrived. Grissom was still sitting patiently in his seat, but Catherine was pacing back and forth with anxious energy.

The surgeon entered the waiting room still dressed in his surgical scrubs and strode briskly towards the two colleagues, hand outstretched in greeting.

"I'm Mark Hargraves." he said without prelude. "I operated on your colleague."Catherine shook his hand and introduced herself before finally settling back into her seat next to Grissom.

"Mr Stokes had received a deep penetrating stab wound which had lacerated his spleen. He had lost a significant amount of blood by the time he arrived in theatre with a nick to the splenic vein. He's an extremely fortunate man that the knife didn't hit his splenic artery or he wouldn't have made it to hospital in time. As it is, we've transfused him with 8 units of packed cells and we're topping him off with a 9th unit now. The injury to his spleen was too severe to repair so we've had to remove it. It shouldn't cause him too many problems long term - fortunately for him we can still lead a normal life without our spleen. Our main concern at the moment is infection. Stab wounds are notoriously prone to infection. He's receiving broad spectrum antibiotics intravenously and we gave him an antibiotic peritoneal lavage intraoperatively. Now, we just need to see how he responds."

Grissom shrugged with his eyebrows at the influx of information. It wasn't the first time that Nick had been described as 'lucky'. Several years earlier, Grissom and Catherine had been sitting in a waiting room similar to the one they were currently in hearing about how lucky Nick was to have survived being buried alive in a Perspex coffin. Grissom wasn't sure that the term 'lucky' was apt. Nick's survival in both cases was due to his tenaciousness and mental toughness and there was surely nothing lucky about being in the wrong place at the wrong time more than once.

"Can we see him yet?" Catherine asked quietly.

Mark Hargraves stood and nodded, gesturing them to follow him through to the intensive care unit.

"He's still heavily sedated, but come on through." he said. "Just a few minutes."

Catherine and Grissom shared yet another glance.

There was definitely a feeling of déjà vu.

**Thankyou for reading. Apologies again for the lateness of posting this chapter. Now please consider hitting the review button. I really enjoy reading each and every review and appreciate it more than I can say….**


	9. Chapter 9

**Nearly there…..Thankyou again to all the people who sent through a review. They are all very much appreciated. **

Catherine and Grissom followed Nick's surgeon through the entry door to the intensive care unit. It was a large central work area with individual rooms leading from it all separated from the main area with giant perspex walls.

They headed towards a corner room with a large number 8 stencilled on the outside wall.

"Just a few minutes, alright?"

Both nodded in agreement and moved to stand at the foot of the bed while the surgeon went to the work desk at the side of the room, sorted through several charts, then took one and went back out to the main work area.

Grissom remained at the foot of the bed and sighed as Catherine made her way to the side of the bed and reached out to take one of Nick's limp hands.

There was no response as she squeezed his hand and so she reached out to stroke his hair gently instead. He looked almost as if he were in a peaceful sleep - except for the oxygen mask over his nose and mouth, the central venous catheter sitting alongside his neck which fed intravenous fluids, blood, and antibiotics into his body, drain tubes funnelling bloody fluid from his abdomen, and monitoring equipment attached to his chest, arm and fingers.

Catherine glanced up at Grissom.

"I hope Sara isn't going to protect her brother now." she said bitterly. "Because, I tell you, Gil, if I get to him first I'll kill him."

Sara got the phone call that she had expected but dreaded from Jim Brass an hour after Nick had been stabbed.

Officers had apprehended Alex several blocks from the police station. He was in custody and had been asking to see his sister - and had been denied from Brass himself.

The slight hesitation in Sara's voice was enough to trouble Brass,

"Sara, listen to me." he reinforced - the tone of his voice calm and full of authority. "You are not to come and see him. You understand me."

Sara rubbed a hand across her face - conflicting emotions raging inside her head.

"It's OK, Jim." she said quietly. "It's over. He's all yours."

"Are you OK?" Jim asked tentatively.

There was a long moment of silence on the other end of the line before Sara finally replied in a quiet but measured tone.

"No." she said simply. "No, I'm not. But I will be."

Brass ended the call with a knot of concern still deep within his gut. He had known Sara for many years and had been a silent bystander throughout many of her ordeals. He had watched her internalise many cases, had seen her struggle to overcome a growing dependency on alcohol, and had witnessed her self destruct after her abduction and near death experience at the hands of Natalie Davis. He had been relieved, and more than a little surprised, to learn that Grissom and Sara had eventually realised that they were a perfect fit for each other and had thought that, finally, her life had evened out and stabilised. He would be damned if he was going to let some little punk come in and make life hard for her again.

Nick crashed back into consciousness driven forward by his last memory before passing out - that of a white hot pain in his belly and the panicky realisation that he could be dying.

The pain wasn't quite as intense but still kicked at him as he struggled to sit up.

"Nick?"

Catherine's soft voice flittered across the edge of his awareness.

"Sweetie, you need to lie still. Nicky!"

He heard sudden movement next to him and felt a strong hand take his arm and hold it down as he struggled against whatever it was that was stopping him from sitting up.

Then he felt two soft hands cradling his face and heard Catherine's voice again, almost a whisper in his ear.

"Sweetie, open your eyes. It's OK….just open your eyes."

He frowned - partly at the realisation that his eyes were still closed, and partly at the amount of energy it took to force them open. But, finally, his body started responding to his brain and his eyes cracked apart. Blurry images wavered before him and made him feel queasy, before slowly coalescing into the image of Catherine's face - a tight smile of concern pulling at her lips.

"Welcome back." she said softly. "You've had us worried."

Nick blinked several times and was rewarded with a little more focus. He ran his tongue around his dry lips and opened his mouth to speak - frowning again when no words came out.

Catherine moved her right hand a little to stroke his hair gently against his forehead.

"It's OK." she repeated again, "Don't try to talk. You're alright. You're in hospital. But, sweetie, you're hooked up to some lines and some equipment. And you can't pull at them, OK? You'll hurt yourself if you pull at them….you understand me?"

Nick watched Catherine's lips move and could hear her voice - but they didn't match up. He felt dizzy and sick. Closing his eyes tightly against another wave of nausea, he heard Catherine's voice continue.

"Nicky, don't pull at the tubes, OK? Just lie still."

Still with eyes closed, he nodded almost imperceptibly. He took a few steadying breaths and felt the nausea ease off again. The pain in his belly had eased off almost completely and he felt himself relax.

Grissom stood at the edge of the bed, his hand still pinning Nick's arm down at his side. He had reacted quickly as Nick's hand had reached out to grab at the drain tube in his side. He had watched the younger man become increasingly agitated as he got closer to consciousness, pulling at his oxygen mask and tugging at the sheet below him, but it had been the hand grabbing at the drain that had sent him from his plastic seat to his colleagues side in a heartbeat.

Catherine turned her head from Nick, her smile having lost some of it's initial tension, and nodded her head towards Grissom's hand.

"You can let go now. He's out again."

Grissom glanced down as he released his grip. Red finger marks remained.

Sighing, he went back to his hard, plastic seat and sat down heavily. He was starting to feel the effects of no sleep and marvelled at the fact that he had spent so many years living on permanent night duty. He doubted he would have the stamina to go back to that lifestyle.

He watched as Catherine stretched out her back muscles before returning to her seat as well.

It was nothing short of miraculous - and Catherine's ability to convince almost anyone of anything - that they were both still able to sit with him. She had spoken with the medical team about the parental nature of their relationship and how Alex was, at that point, still at large. With the promise of keeping out of the way and not hindering the medical teams in their treatment of their patient, they were allowed to stay.

A nurse appeared and checked over Nick's drains and tubes before recording his blood pressure, pulse and respiration rates on his charts. "He woke up for a minute." Catherine said.

The nurse nodded as she charted his results.

"I saw." she replied as she nodded towards the central work station. "I was caught up on the phone with his surgeon. Was he still groggy?"Catherine nodded.

"He wasn't able to speak, but I think he understood we were here. He settled quickly."

The nurse nodded and leant over to check the plastic dressing across Nick's abdomen.

"Mr Hargraves will be up to review him this evening." The nurse continued. "He's doing pretty well, all things considered. Provided he keeps improving we should be able to get him out of bed tomorrow and probably to a general ward in a couple of days."

Catherine looked slightly stunned by the news.

"That soon?" she asked, shooting a slightly dubious look in Nick's direction.

The nurse smiled back at her.

"Once he wakes up properly from the anaesthetic we can assess his pain relief requirements and wean down the morphine infusion. He should pick up pretty quickly once he gets the drains out and starts moving around."

Catherine and Grissom thanked the nurse as she left the room and both settled back into a companionable silence. A silence which was broken several moments later when Grissom's cell phone ringing. Glancing at the caller id he glanced up at Catherine and excused himself before heading out of the cubicle. Catherine watched him leave and heard him murmur a quick 'Hi." in a manner that made her assume it was Sara on the other end of the line.

Glancing back at her younger colleague, she pulled her seat closer to the bed and took one of his hands. She had the same feeling of déjà vu as she had experienced in the waiting room.

She sincerely hoped that this would be the last time they would find themselves in this position. There had already been too many hospital stints for both of them.

Grissom headed out of the intensive care unit and back into the waiting room where he had more privacy.

"How is Nick doing?" Sara asked without preamble, voice full of concern.

Grissom detailed Nick's injuries and prognosis. He glanced out of the hospital window as he spoke and did a double take as he realised how high the sun was. Checking his watch, he yawned inadvertently when he saw it was past midday.

"Any news on Alex?" he asked, trying to get his mind away from his tiredness.

Sara filled him in on Alex's arrest and on his request to see her. And she talked to him about her desire to cut herself off from her brother once and for all but also of her crushing guilt that she was absolving herself from all the responsibility of the only family she had left - even after he had so very nearly killed her close friend.

"Sara…"

"Gil, I know. I know what you're going to say and I would love to be able to tell you that I don't care….but a part of me still does and I don't know how to stop caring. He's still my family. He's the only family I've got." she said, emotion cracking her voice.

"Sara." Grissom replied - his voice strained by a combination of exhaustion and frustration, "I'm your family now too. When we entered the commitment of marriage we started our own family. It's what we both wanted. It's what I still want…..but you need to choose."

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"Sweetheart…." his voice was little more than a whisper. He hadn't meant for it to come out like that - hadn't meant for it to sound so confronting - and he now sincerely wished that they weren't having this conversation over the phone.

"Sara…..talk to me, please."

"Gil. You know I love you. I've always loved you…..and I always will. You are my life…my future. I just need to get my head together…just a day or two. OK?"

Grissom dropped his head down.

"Sara, don't do this….please." he almost whispered. "Don't lock me out like this.""Just a day or two…I just need to be by myself. I love you."Grissom opened his mouth to reply but the connection was terminated before he could say anything. Snapping his phone shut in frustration he took a couple of steadying breaths.

It took a great deal to fluster Gil Grissom, but the Sidle family had managed it.

Shoving his cell back into his jacket pocket he turned and headed back into Nick's room.

Catherine looked up as he entered and raised her eyebrows in question when he dropped heavily down into his chair.

"Everything OK?" she asked tentatively.

Grissom sighed and rubbed a weary hand across his face.

"Yeah. Everything's fine" he replied, although the tone of his voice belied his words. "They found Alex and have him in custody at the station."

Catherine shrugged.

"Well, that's good news." she replied. "How's Sara doing?"

Grissom groaned and dropped his head into his hands. It was unlike him to be so outwardly expressive and Catherine raised her eyebrows once more. Maybe marriage had been good for him in more ways than one, she thought.

Finally, Gil Grissom had to stop being an emotional island.

**Thanks for reading and many thanks again to the people who have taken the time to review the last chapter. It was greatly appreciated. I would love to hear your feedback on this chapter too so please consider hitting the review button now….**


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

**OK, firstly, apologies for the delay in getting another chapter written and put up. This chapter, as promised, is for Mma63, who gave me the nudge I needed to sit down and write up some more. Many thanks for the continued support of my stories and for taking the time to review. Now, please, read on…**

_Grissom groaned and dropped his head into his hands. It was unlike him to be so outwardly expressive and Catherine raised her eyebrows once more. Maybe marriage had been good for him in more ways than one, she thought. _

_Finally, Gil Grissom had to stop being an emotional island. _

"Gil?"

He heard the sound of movement as Catherine shifted her chair closer to his.

"I'm losing her, Catherine." he said quietly. The words were simple but the emotion which cracked his voice spoke volumes.

Catherine let the silence sit there for several seconds, settling instead for a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder, but when no more words were forthcoming she took a deep breath and offered what words of wisdom she could.

"Gil, how long have I known you?" she asked.

Grissom shrugged a little and finally brought his head up from his hands.

"More years than I can remember." he replied.

Catherine gave a slight chuckle.

"It's been nearly 20 years." she said, raising her eyebrows at how fast the time had gone. "Twenty looong years." she added with a cheeky grin.

Grissom gave her a wan smile in return.

"Anyway," she continued, "I feel I know you pretty well after all these years. We've been through a lot together and I've learnt to trust your judgement. I've learnt to back you because, even when I think you're heading for disaster, you always come through."

Grissom turned his head to look at her with a sceptical eyebrow raised.

Catherine pushed on regardless.

"When you and Sara first got together, part of me thought '_about time!_' but another part of me thought that it was not going to end well and the two of you were so very different that it could never work out."Grissom continued to look at her, perplexed at where the conversation was heading.

"Is this supposed to be making me feel better?" he asked sarcastically.

Catherine ignored him and continued.

"Well, you proved me wrong." she said, flicking her hair away from her eyes. "I watched the way you were with each other and I've come to realise that you're both just two pieces of the one puzzle. You belong together. The two of you have more in common than I ever imagined and I've seen you work through the most incredibly difficult situations. This is a speed hump, that's all. You'll work through this the same way as everything else and you'll come out the other side stronger than ever."

Grissom took a deep breath and nodded. He brought an arm up and wrapped it around Catherine's shoulders, pulling her into an embrace. Catherine smiled as she hugged him back.

Her friend had definitely changed.

Nick slept on and off throughout the day and well into the night. His waking moments were spent in a drug induced cloud where strangers in uniform were standing over him, getting him to cough and move about as much as he was able.

Even rolling onto his side was an effort and sapped him of his energy.

He had been vaguely aware of Catherine and Grissom with him for part of the day but they had finally left at some point and he was alone again.

He finally woke up in the early hours of the morning feeling more clear headed than he had since his ordeal started. It still hurt to move much. He was clear headed enough to realise that this meant they must have stopped his narcotic infusion at some point.

He took a deep breath and winced as the staples holding his wound together bit into him. Turning his head to one side he gazed out of the cubicles window. The sky was black - it was clearly the middle of the night - but there was a weird glow from the city's lights which oozed its way through the darkness.

Nick brought a hand up to rub wearily at his face before dropping it heavily back onto the bed. He slowly turned his head back to have a look around his room, finally lucid enough to care about his surroundings, and jumped as his gaze landed on a figure sitting in a chair in the shadows. He winced again and muttered a curse word as the sudden movement tweaked his wound and pulled at his drainage tube.

The figure moved from the chair and his brain finally registered it as being Sara as she moved closer to his bed.

"Hey." she said quietly as she reached out and grabbed hold of his hand.

"Hey." he replied, his voice gravely and hoarse.

"How you feeling" she asked tentatively.

Nick gave her a tired smile and squeezed her hand. "Been better." he replied.

Sara forced out a chuckle that quickly turned into a sob and she brought her free hand up to her face to cover her eyes as the tears finally came.

Nick frowned in concern and awkwardly manoeuvred his arm up - despite the IV lines - to rest at the side of her face briefly before wrapping around her neck and bringing her head down to rest against the crook of his shoulder. Mumbling soothing words, he waited until he heard her sniff and felt her body relax and stop trembling.

"I'm sorry, Nick." she murmured, her head still tucked into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry for all of this."

She felt Nick's hand tighten briefly at the back of her neck and heard him whisper "It's not your fault, Sara. Not your fault."

Sara closed her eyes and rested a moment.

When she finally sat up she rubbed at her eyes self consciously. She had always had a friendly rivalry with Nick and hated letting him see her so vulnerable. Sensing her discomfort, Nick shifted his gaze to the wall to let her regain her composure. As competitive as he was with her, he was first and foremost a gentleman.

"So," he said, bringing a hand to rest over his aching abdomen, "what's happening with your brother?"

Sara dropped her gaze down to the bed sheets before taking a deep and steadying breath.

"Jim called to say they had him in custody," she replied, not making eye contact. "They found him a few blocks away from the lab."

Nick nodded and closed his eyes as if the information simply confirmed what he had already suspected. He guessed Sara wouldn't have been sitting with him in the middle of the night if her brother was still roaming free. Knowing her, she would have been out on the streets looking for him herself.

She was tenacious.

Dogged.

Tough as nails.

And delicate as a flower.

Nick re-opened his eyes and looked across at his colleague - a woman he loved like another sister. She had dragged her seat across to sit close next to his bed, eyes still downcast. She looked like a lonely little girl. And it broke Nicks's heart.

"Sar?" he murmured gently.

Sara paused a second before shifting her gaze back to him.

"You OK?" he asked carefully, eyebrows rising in concern.

Sara smiled back at him.

"You're the one lying in a hospital bed." she replied. "I should be the one asking you that question."

Nick reached out and grabbed her hand again, giving it another squeeze.

"Sara, I'll be fine." he said before locking his eyes with her again. "I want to make sure you'll be fine too."

Sara didn't let go of his hand but broke the intense eye contact and bit her lip to stop her emotions from bubbling to the surface again. Taking a couple of deep and steadying breaths, she looked back up into his eyes and spoke with a strength that even surprised herself.

"I will be OK." she replied earnestly. Having said it aloud, she suddenly realised what she needed to do. She had fought so long and so hard to get the happiness that had eluded her throughout her younger years.

It was crystal clear.

She had offered her brother everything he needed to establish a new life for himself - she had fought so hard for him - and he had rejected it all. She had to look after herself now. She had to put her happiness first for once. She had to embrace the fact that family doesn't automatically come with shared genetics - it comes with being around people who offer love, respect and support, regardless of your DNA sequences. She realised that, as a child, you were at the mercy of the family you were born into. You could have an upbringing filled with love and joy, you could have one filled with angst and hatred, or you could be discarded like a piece of rubbish. As a child, she had lacked the maturity and life experience to be able to do much other than adapt to her circumstances. As an adult, she realised, she had the means and independence to chose where she wanted to be and who she wanted to share her life with. She had formed a new family. And she wanted to be a part of that family more badly than she had wanted anything else in her whole life.

She knew what she needed to do….and it felt good. It felt right. It felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

She needed to go home.

A warm and genuine smile spread across her face as she looked back at Nick. She squeezed his hand once more.

"I'll be just fine." she reiterated.

Then, pushing to her feet she leant across and gave Nick a small kiss on the forehead before offering an awkward hug.

"Thanks, Nicky." she said softly.

Nick looked slightly perplexed but murmured "Any time." as Sara pulled away, turned to pick up her bag, and headed for the door.

"Sorry for keeping you up. I'll let you get your beauty sleep." she said teasingly.

Nick smiled and settled back against his pillows.

"Feel better soon and call me if you need anything, OK?" she said.

Nick nodded and gave her the thumbs up sign.

Sara smiled back and left.

She was going home.

Back to the man she loved more than anyone.

Back to her family.

**Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please consider sending me through a note to let me know what you thought of it. I would really, really appreciate it. I really would. Go on. Please?**


	11. Chapter 11

**Final chapter finally finished. I hope you enjoy reading it and please consider hitting the review button at the end. **

**CHAPTER 11**

Gil Grissom lay by himself in bed. He had tossed and turned for hours, his body desperate for sleep but his mind not willing to succumb.

He glanced across at his bedside table.

04:18.

The anaemic green light that was emitted from the old digital clock seemed to fill the whole room. As dull as it was, it somehow seemed too bright to allow him to finally drop off into oblivion. The gnawing worry he had for his wife simply would not let up and was making him extra sensitive to his surroundings.

He had managed a handful of hours of sleep during the afternoon once he and Catherine had finally left Nick, but he was acutely aware that he needed more. His body couldn't function effectively with such little sleep after essentially 3 days of being awake.

He closed his eyes again and tried to control his breathing, anything to try and settle enough to drift off.

His eyes suddenly sprang open as he heard it. Very faint but there.

The sound of the front door opening and closing. The glow from the living room light being switched on filtered down the hallway and his heart rate sped up unconsciously as a sudden and dreadful thought crossed his mind. Alex. _Did he still have a key to the apartment?_

Then he heard footsteps. Soft, considerate footsteps, and he sat up. If it was Alex, he realised dully, the footsteps would have been heavier. There was no way he would be decent enough to consider not waking him.

He smiled as Sara's silhouette appeared in the bedroom doorway.

"Hey." she said, hands resting on her hips as she looked at her husband.

"Hey." he replied.

Sara took a deep breath and dropped her head down momentarily before looking back straight into his eyes. She took two steps into the room so he could see her face clearly as well. It was important for what she needed to say.

"Gil, I'm so sorry." she said, voice full of emotion. "I am so, so, sorry. For everything. I love you so much. I love you more than anyone in the world and I know that you are the only person I need to have in my life. You are the only one I want. You are my family. I love you."

Grissom maintained eye contact with her. He paused not even for a second once she had finished speaking before he flicked back the covers next to him and held his arms out for her.

Smiling she went straight to him and collapsed into bed, finally feeling safe and secure embraced in the arms of the man she loved.

"Am I forgiven?" she asked quietly.

She felt his arms tighten around her protectively as his lips met hers. After a second he pulled away ever so slightly.

"Always." he replied before their lips met a second time.

It was almost midday by the time Sara woke.

She stretched her shoulders and her back before turning over and smiling sleepily at her husband. He was still sleeping. He had looked terrible when she had arrived home in the early hours of the morning. The stress of the previous days had clearly taken its toll and she felt awful about being the cause of most of his anxiety. She hated nothing more than when there was tension between them.

They had certainly made up however once she had joined him in bed and they had both fallen asleep, completely exhausted, but content wrapped in each others arms.

Slowly manoeuvring herself to the edge of the bed, she slipped out from under the covers and padded gently to the armchair in the corner of the room where her dressing gown had been tossed after her shower two days earlier. Wrapping it tightly around her she padded out into the living room. The light was still on from when she had arrived home and she flicked it off as she passed the switch and walked into the kitchenette.

She boiled the kettle while she busied herself preparing a fruit salad. Finally, she loaded up two china tea cups full of herbal tea and the large bowl of cut fruit onto a breakfast tray and headed back into her bedroom.

Grissom was just starting to rouse as she placed his tea on the bedside table next to his head. Depositing the tray onto her bedside table, she climbed back into bed.

Propping themselves up on pillows, Sara handed her husband a fork and they both started picking at the fruit.

"We're going to have to head into the station today and fill in the documentation for our lost bail money." Grissom said.

Sara nodded.

"I want to see him." she said, her voice almost casual.

Grissom froze, the fork with a piece of skewered fruit on it hovered in mid air, halfway to his open mouth.

"Sara…" he started in despair, but she cut him off before he could finish his thought.

She turned to look him straight in the eyes as she spoke, defiance radiating off her.

"I need to see him, Gil." she replied calmly. "I need to tell him he is no longer a part of my life. I need him to know he is no longer welcome in my life and I need him to hear it from me."The fork was lowered once more and a rueful expression crossed his face.

Sara was back at last.

Her feisty attitude and defiance was back. Finally, Grissom knew they would be alright.

Nick had endured being in hospital for 4 days. He had only been in hospital a handful of times in his life and 4 days had been his absolute limit. As soon as the drains had been removed and the potential for infection had largely abated, he had pestered the medical staff to discharge him. Much to his chagrin, however, his mother had arrived to take care of him the day before his discharge. As much as he loved his mother and looked forward to seeing her under normal circumstances, he hated being babied and struggled with the suffocation of his mother's care - particularly when her attention was solely focused on him without the buffer of his brother and sisters. Still, he didn't say anything and merely put up with her nurturing care with a stoic smile.

He was still sore and moved delicately as the remaining stitches added to his discomfort, but he had finally achieved his wish and was sitting back in his own home, on his own sofa, watching his own television.

His mother had disappeared off to the local shopping centre after she had served him up a big bowl of chilli for his lunch and made sure he was settled and comfortable. He was almost ashamed of himself as he breathed out in relief when he heard his Mom reverse his car out of the driveway.

Easing his head back against the sofa he let his eyes drift shut as the sound from the TV droned on in the background.

He had almost drifted off when he heard the sound of a vehicle's tyres squeal against the concrete of his driveway. Dragging his eyes open, he waited for the sound of keys in the front door and was instead surprised at the sound of the doorbell.

Figuring his Mom must have forgotten her set of keys, he pushed himself up, wincing at the tug of his stitches in his belly, and made his way to the door. He was surprised to find Sara standing on his doorstep - a big, warm smile on her face and a box of cupcakes in her hand.

Ushering her inside, he shuffled his way to the kitchen and flicked the kettle on.

Sara watched him move and rolled her eyes.

"Nick, go sit down. I'll fix us a coffee." she said.

Nick scowled at her in response, mumbling '_I'm fine_', and reached to get two mugs from the cupboard, wincing unconsciously as pain kicked him in the side again.

Sara ignored him and reached out to take the mugs from him and placed them on the countertop.

"For God's sake, Nick. Stop trying to be a Superman and go sit down." She tossed him a smile - daring him to defy her.

He paused for a just a second before offering her a smile in return and shuffled back to the living room.

"You know, I wouldn't put up with that sort of attitude from anyone but you, Sar." he called back over his shoulder.

Chuckling to herself, she poured coffee into both mugs and headed out after him, leaving the comment alone. She headed to the coffee table and placed one of the mugs onto a coaster in front of her friend, before taking a seat next to him on the sofa.

"Hey, Nicky?" she said quietly before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Mmmm?" he murmured back, one hand holding his side as he reached forward to take his drink.

"I wanted to ask you a favour."

Nick glanced across at her.

"Sure." he replied. "Anything."

Sara dropped her head for a moment before turning her head to face him.

"You have sisters, right?" she said.

This time it was Nick's turn to chuckle.

"Yeah." he replied. "I have sisters. I have LOTS of sisters!"

Sara nodded.

"And do you like having sisters?" she continued.

Nick looked completely baffled.

"Well, I guess so. Sure." he replied, shrugging his shoulder.

Sara nodded again.

"Sar, is everything OK?" he asked quietly, reaching his free hand across to rest against her forearm.

She smiled wanly and looked across at him.

"I said goodbye to my brother today." she said simply.

Nick ducked his head momentarily. He didn't know what he should say to that.

"Alex is going to jail and it's likely he will be there for a long time." she said matter-of-factly. "I realised I don't have a connection with him anymore and don't want to be part of his life. So, I said goodbye to him. Permanently."

Nick lifted his head back up and locked eyes with her.

"I'm really sorry, Sara." he said quietly. "Will you be OK?"

Sara smiled at him again and nodded.

"It was the right decision." she replied. "I feel good about it. I'm done feeling guilty."

Nick nodded.

"But," she continued, "I also realised that I really want my own family. I really want to have a brother I can count on. I don't want to be an only child anymore."

Nick didn't know if it was just the fact he was on strong pain medication or if the conversation was actually confusing, but he had no idea where Sara was heading.

"Nicky?"

"Yeah?" he replied, his brow furrowed with puzzlement.

"What I really want to ask is…..will you be my brother?"

Nick let out a chuckle before he saw Sara drop her head in embarrassment. Pulling himself up, he stopped laughing and instead wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her into an awkward embrace.

"Sara Sidle." he replied. "I would be honoured to be your brother. And, really, once you have five sisters….what's one more."

Sara laughed softly and buried her head against him.

After all the years of being independent and lonely and wishing that she had had a family, Sara finally realised she had had everything she wasnted the entire time. She had suffered the repurcussions of a broken and dysfunctional childhood and had weathered many storms as a result. And suddenly, eleven years after she had moved to be with Grissom on the Grave shift, it dawned on her.

She had made herself a family the day she had arrived in Las Vegas.

THE END

**That's it….all done. Thank you very much for reading and I hope you enjoyed my story. A big thankyou also to all the people who reviewed. Encouragement and feedback is always very much appreciated. **


End file.
